The Queens Diamond Wedding Anniversary
60 years ago on the 20th November 1947 Princess Elizabeth married her Prince.
It had been one of the worst winters on record and Britain was still in the throes of rationing. In a nation of make doer’s this royal wedding was truly a remarkable day after the economical gloom and misery of suffering through WWII.
Millions from all over the world watched and listened, as the bride travelled in the colossal state coach to Westminster Abbey where previously 10 other members of the Royal family had also been married.
The Queens Dress
The dress was made of ivory duchesse satin, was designed by Sir Norman Hartnell and had been woven from Chinese silkworms at Lullingstone Castle. White seed pearls imported from America, with silver thread, sparking crystal and transparent appliqué tulle embroidery adorned the stunning dress. A magnificent 13 foot silk tulle court train was attached at the shoulders with the same pattern as the dress. Completing this breathtaking ensemble was a silk tulle veil and ivory duchesse satin high heeled sandals, which were trimmed with silver and seed pearl buckles.
The veil was held in place by a tiara which had been made for Queen Mary. The diamonds had been taken from a necklace that Queen Victoria had purchased, making this a truly ‘royal’ tiara.
The Grooms Outfit
The groom was dressed in his Royal Naval Lieutenant uniform bearing his medal ribbons and decorations which were the Star of the Order of the Garter and the Star of the Greek Order of the Redeemer. The sword that he carried had been a gift from the King and this was used to cut the wedding cake.
There were 8 bridesmaids, who all wore miniature white wreaths in their hair. The dresses were of white satin and silver lame and had identical embroidered emblems as the bride’s dress. Their bouquets were made of up white orchids, lilies of the valley, gardenias, white bouvardia, white roses and nerine. There were 2 pageboys and both wore kilts of the Royal Stewart Tartan.
During the service the bride and groom knelt on rose pink covered boxes which due to the war austerity were actually orange boxes and had the date of 1946 stamped on them.
Once the register had been signed, a white flag was waved in the organ loft as a signal for the trumpet fanfares for the very first time in the history of the Abbey.
The Queens Top Table
The bride carried a bouquet of white orchids and nestled among them was a sprig of myrtle from the bush that had been grown from the original myrtle that was in Queen Victoria’s bouquet. An identical bouquet would later be presented to the Queen on her 50th Golden wedding anniversary in 1997.
The top table consisted of the bride and groom, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (the brides parents), Queen Mary (the brides grandmother), Princess Margaret (the brides sister) Princess Andrew of Greece (the grooms mother), Prince George of Greece (the groom’s uncle) and the Kings of Norway, Denmark and Romania.
The wedding favours for the guests were tiny posies of myrtle and white Balmoral heather at each place setting and were accompanied by the table flowers of pink and white carnations.
The 9 foot high 4 tiered cake was a gift from McVities and Price and was covered in armorial bearings of both families as well as monograms of bride and groom, sugar-iced figurines which depicted their favourite activities along with regimental and naval badges. Most of the ingredients for the cake had been sent as gifts from abroad due to post war rationing still in place.
The bride and groom were showered with rose petals on leaving the Palace where they began their journey to spend their wedding night at the home of Earl Mountbatten in Hampshire. The going away outfit was a matching coat of misty blue with mushroom coloured accessories, and hidden away underneath the blanket in the coach was her favourite corgi.
Things Can Go Wrong...
Like most brides, things can and do often go wrong. Thankfully these are usually always rectified and by all account any onlooker would not have guessed that even the future Queen’s wedding day had it’s own ‘almost catastrophes’
On placing the tiara onto the veil, it snapped and had to be hastily repaired. The brides’ bouquet was mislaid when it was forgotten that it had been placed in a cold cupboard and after realising that the pearl necklace which was a wedding gift from the bride’s parents had been left behind, an aide was sent post haste through the busy streets to retrieve them!
60 years on and the Queen and Prince Philip have much to be thankful for! They have 4 children and 8 grandchildren and a country that has once more been swept along with their celebrations.
Happy diamond anniversary wishes I’m sure will be sent in the millions from all over the world and what family can not be elated at such an achievement for reaching 60 years of married life.
God Save the Queen!
